For Reasons Unknown
by morphine cowboy
Summary: While searching for Jacob's cabin, Kate is kidnapped by the others. Jack, Sawyer,John, Ana, and Juliet head out to try and rescue her, but things quickly spiral out of control. COMPLETE
1. The Honest Man

A/N: The story starts after 4x03, so some spoilers if you haven't seen season four yet. Reviews greatly appreciated!

"So am I free to go?" Kate asked innocently, giving Sawyer a playful glance as the two exited Ben's house. She closed her eyes and tilted her head skyward, glad to be outside again.

"Well that depends now Freckles, typically you can get out of a sentence early if you exhibit a little good behavior," he replied, suddenly grabbing one of her hands. As she looked up at the smirking man before her she couldn't help but laugh. Pulling away from him she started striding across the green grass of the barracks with no particular destination in mind.

"Now hold on a minute, don't you go leavin' me here!" He cried out after her, jogging to catch up.

"Oh, yeah and why is that cowboy?" she asked, slightly slowing her pace.

"I don't want you to call in the cavalry to have Mr. Roboto rescued. Locke wouldn't like that," he explained.

"So you do answer to Locke," she mused, raising her eyebrows at a now infuriated Sawyer. Pleased with his reaction she continued on her trek across the barracks' campus. "Besides," she continued, taking a seat on a picnic bench, "why would I care about Miles. The guys a jerk."

"So what am I, a saint?" He snapped back, his anger residing. He scowled as Kate simply smiled up at him. A sudden commotion erupted from a house not too far away from the bench where they sat. Kate craned her neck around Sawyer, searching for the cause of the disturbance. Soon she saw Hurley emerge from the house, hunched over and walking backwards out the door. It became apparent he was dragging what appeared to be a body from the house.

"Hurley, what the hell is going on?" Kate shouted.

"Umm, nothing?" he responded, struggling to get the unconscious Miles across the threshold of the door. He looked up at Kate for a second, then quickly averted his eyes back to the floor in front of him.

"Hurley…"

"Look dude, just ask Locke. I gotta take him to the rec room now. No questions, alright?" He stated, never looking up from the unconscious form of Miles. Locke emerged out of the house moments later and glanced at a perplexed Kate.

"He wouldn't talk," he simply said, brushing the sweat from his forehead.

------------------------------------------

A throbbing pain greeted Miles as he slowly came into consciousness. His head in a fog, he tried to assess just where he was. A sharp pain jolted through his body, and he fell back to the floor in resignation.

"Another new roommate. At least I can't say I'm not meeting new people," a voice somewhere in the distance sounded. Miles groaned, and made a second attempt to sit up. Finding success he stumbled around what appeared to be a game room. His vision slowly returning, he noticed a man sitting across the room from him. He shut his eyes closed again, and shook his head.

"And you must be Miles. I'm Benjamin by the way, but I figure you already know that," the voice elaborated.

"Yeah and why would you say something like that?" Miles groggily replied. Ben just chuckled and turned his head towards one of the windows.

"I'm guessing you didn't tell our kind host what he wanted to hear," he responded, dodging Miles's question. "You of course wouldn't want to enlighten me with your travel plans?"

"Oh I'd love to! I was hired by a polling agency to conduct research on the general happiness levels of the islands inhabitants. Of course my data is a little skewed, but so far the numbers are pretty depressing," he responded sarcastically. He gave Ben a ridiculously phony smile before slamming a fist against the door.

"That's an odd job for someone who has so much experience talking to the dead,"

"What?" Miles slowly turned his head away from the door, lowering his arm. "If Charlotte said that, then she has no idea what she's talking about!" he frantically explained, his voice increasing both in volume and in speed.

"I didn't say anything to Charlotte. I did shoot her though. Twice," said Ben, in a monotone, calculating voice.

"Well that's a shame," Miles muttered, "still leaves me wondering where you got that idea from."

"What idea?" Miles spun around and slowly advanced towards Ben.

"I get answers, or you get your ass kicked. Simple, huh?" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the man in handcuffs sitting in front of him. Suddenly, a click was heard and the door at the front of the room slowly creaked open.

"I'm coming in," John Locke proclaimed, poking his head around the opening in door. Seeing he was in no immediate danger, he proceeded to enter the room with a pitcher of lemonade on a tray. He began pouring a glass, while keeping his eyes fixed on his two captives on the opposite side of the room. "I'm sorry Miles; I didn't mean to treat you like that. I just lost my temper, and would really appreciate some honesty. Being stranded on an island will do that to you," he explained, outstretching a hand with a glass of lemonade towards Miles.

"Thanks! Lemonade! I hope it heals my broken nose," he responded, but grabbed the glass nonetheless.

"John, when do I get some lemonade?" Ben whined, a frown forming on his lips.

"When you start giving me some damn answers,"

"Well, I am pretty thirsty. You know Miles? Well, he has a lot of experience contacting spirits. He spent a majority of his working years as ghost-hunter in LA, and is highly recommended," Ben replied, staring intently at John. Miles whipped his head around toward Ben, and threw his lemonade against the wall, shattering the cup.

"He lies! How would he know anything about me?" he shouted, storming over towards Ben. John gazed perplexed at Ben, than at the fuming Miles. He took another cup from the tray he brought in, and began to slowly fill it with lemonade.


	2. Frustration

A/N: chapter 3 should be up pretty soon, sorry this one took a bit longer.

"Are you sure you don't need to pull over and ask for directions? I mean it's just a suggestion," Miles asked as he maneuvered between a particularly dense cluster of trees. He turned his head towards Locke, and shrugged.

"Just keep moving," Locke grumbled, swinging wildly at a low hanging branch. Perhaps it was a mistake bringing Miles along, he thought. In fact, he was he regretting that he asked anyone else to accompany with him. He glanced backwards at the faces of Kate and Hurley, and silently cursed. Perhaps he was too desperate to visit Jacob again.

"Locke, we've been walking this way for an hour. I mean, I'm not sure or anything, but are you sure this cabin isn't that way," Hurley questioned, pointing out into the jungle.

"Do you know something Hugo, because it certainly seems like you do," Locke inquired, looking at the man behind him. "Well?"

"Umm, no. I'm just saying that there are other options out there," he said, deliberately averting Locke's gaze.

"Well then, considering _I _have been there, I think its best I make the decisions," Locke replied. Secretly he hoped that Hurley would add some insight to the location of the cabin; after all that is why he asked him to come along in the first place. But he was proving more of a burden than a boon, as was Miles. Suddenly, a feeling of sickness washed over Locke. His head began to throb, sending an intense pain throughout the whole of his body, and causing him to buckle to his knees. It was all wrong. He was supposed to find Jacob. He was supposed to get the orders, to find what the Island wanted from him. He became aware that Kate was kneeling next to him, trying to say something. He couldn't find the cabin because Jacob wouldn't reveal it to them. Only to him. That's why he couldn't find it with the group earlier. That's why he couldn't find it now. He wouldn't find it now, at least as long as they were with him. Suddenly the pain began to recede, and his senses were returning to him. He brushed Kate's hand off his shoulder and stood up.

"I'm sorry but you all have to leave," he said, looking at no one in particular.

"What?" Kate asked, confused.

"It was a mistake bringing you out here. Kate, if you would escort Miles back to camp and put him back in the rec room I'd appreciate it. I'm sorry I wasted your time, but I need to do this alone," Locke ordered, shoving Miles in Kate's direction. Kate's confusion turned towards anger. This was all too typical of Locke. Wasting their time for his own selfish motives. Sawyer was right; she shouldn't have gone with them. But she needed to talk to Miles, and this seemed to be as good of an opportunity as she was going to get. She glared at Locke, sporting a hostile frown before grabbing Miles by the arm and storming off towards the barracks.

"Hands off," Miles shouted at Kate, yanking his arm free from her grip. She let go without a fight. If Locke lost his prisoner, so be it. However, Miles made no quick dash for freedom. Instead, he gave Locke a sinister smile before following Kate and Hurley off into the jungle. They walked in silence for a little while, retracing their path to the best of their abilities. Kate was letting Hurley worry about most of the tracking, she was too angry to give the necessary attention to finding the trail. Hurley and Miles were beginning to argue when Kate began to hear noises in the jungle.

"What do you mean you cant remember if we turned right or left! Think harder, tubby," Miles shouted at Hurley.

"Don't be such a Sawyer," Hurley shot back, studying the path ahead of him.

"Who the hell is Sawyer?"

"Both of you shut up!" Kate commanded, trying to keep her voice low as she listened intently to the noises coming from the jungle. The noise grew louder, and Kate could begin to discern what it was. It sounded as if something or someone was heading through the thick foliage of the jungle towards their location.

"Locke?" she asked, her voice tentative. Hurley and Miles stared at each other, then out into the jungle. The noises had stopped.

"Put your hands where I can see them, all of you!" a strange voice yelled out of the jungle. Kate was frozen to the spot, unable to obey the command. She didn't look over towards Hurley and Miles, there was nothing they could do to help now. Before she could do anything else, three men emerged from the jungle, their faces contorted with rage. "I said put those hands up, now!" the man yelled again. He was balding, and his veins protruded from his forehead. The other two men had rifles aimed at Hurley and Miles, but said nothing.

"I'm guessing these aren't your people," Miles said, raising his hands in the air. The balding man barked an order for one of the others to watch Kate, and approached Miles.

"What did you say to her?" he screamed, waving his pistol within inches of Myles's head.

"You heard me,"

"Of course I did. But what the hell did you mean. Are you not one of the survivors? Then you must be from the boat. Then yes, I know why you're here," the man said. His eyes were shining with madness, as if he might snap any minute. He shoved Myles to the ground. "Ben, is he alive?" this time he questioned Kate.

At first she was unable to respond. She had barely began to register what was happening. She couldn't recognize the man who was issuing orders, but one of the other two seemed familiar. She turned away from the bald man, but she quickly realized that it was a mistake. "Wh-What? Ben? Yeah, he's fine," she barely managed to spit out. They must be the others. Either that or they were from Myles's freighter, and putting on a façade. She looked over towards Miles, and soon discarded that theory. Although he was trying to mask his face with a look of resilience, she could see the fear in his eyes.

"For your sake he better be. Get on the ground, both of you!" the man shouted, indicating with his pistol to a spot near Miles. Once they complied, he raised his pistol towards the trio.

"He better be," he repeated before firing two shots.

* * *

"Now this is progress!" Locke exclaimed to himself. A feeling of joy was coursing through him, for he was beginning to recognize some of the landmarks on the way to Jacob's cabin. He chuckled, and shook his head, enjoying this contentment he was feeling. He didn't like to have to send the others back and to have wasted their time, but it was necessary. Just a bit farther and he would be there. Suddenly he heard two gunshots ring out from somewhere in the jungle. He turned around to see a flock of birds emerge from the canopy, and fly away in a cloud of wings and movement. He stood petrified, his thoughts turning back towards Kate, Hugo, and Miles. The shots couldn't have come from more than a half mile to the south, the exact direction the group had departed. Locke was rooted to the spot, as an all-encompassing silence seemed to settle in the jungle. The cabin was so close, it must be within five minutes hike. Locke's fear morphed into anger. There was no way he could place his ambitions regarding the cabin over the well being of his friends. 

He took one last longing glance in the direction he was sure the cabin was, than dashed out back into the jungle. He ran recklessly, paying little attention to the path. He hurdled over a log, but lost his footing on the landing. He let out a cry of anguish as his ankle twisted, but got back to his feet. He limped forward as fast as he could, grimacing from the immense pain coming from his ankle. A quick glance around confirmed he was on the right path, and he continued on trying to shut out the pain. He ran through a group of trees out into a small opening when he saw Hurley.

"Hugo, are you alright? I heard a gunshot, what happened?" Locke asked, panting heavily from his dash through the jungle. Before Hurley could answer however, Locke became aware of another man, standing a few yards away with a rifle trained on him.

"Put your hands up," the man ordered. That's when Locke saw Miles. He was lying on his back, as a pool of blood forming around him, mingling with the dirt of the jungle floor. Locke inhaled deeply, trying to keep calm. He looked over at Hurley, who was clearly in a state of shock. He sat on the ground, staring absent-mindedly into the jungle.

"What happened here? Where's Kate?" Locke managed to say, keeping his hands in the air.

The man with the gun looked back over his shoulder for a second, and pulled out a radio. "How much longer?" he barked into receiver. Locke couldn't make out what the staticy response was, but that was the least of his concerns. The man had failed to answer either of his questions, and he was getting impatient.

"Well?"

"Alright. The girl will be fine, but only if she cooperates. If we return with an ultimatum, you will know she's alive," the man with the rifle responded, as he slowly started backing into the forest.

"And Miles? Why did you shoot him?" Locke was answered only with silence as the man turned around and dashed off into the dense foliage of the jungle.


	3. The Promise Land

A/N: This chapter has some AU, but I feel it will make the story more interesting. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope to have chapter 4 up by Friday.

A comfortable breeze wound through the confines of the barracks, combating the ever-present humidity. Sawyer closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the breeze, setting aside his copy of _All Quite on the Western Front_. As he reached for a glass of iced tea, he commented to himself, "Well this might not be heaven, but it sure is better than the trenches." He squinted through his makeshift glasses towards the outer perimeter of the little village and could make out Locke limping out of the jungle, with Hurley trailing at a significant difference.

He couldn't help but allow himself a small chuckle at imagining the possibilities of Locke's new injury. He didn't see Kate, but that didn't concern him too much. Sometimes she was the only thing he wanted to have around, but all too often he wanted nothing more than some peace and quiet.

He felt obliged to go and meet Locke however, so he set his book down next to the adirondack chair and headed off in Locke's direction, a smile evident on his face.

"What happen out there Corporal Himmelstoss, have a run in with the enemy?" Sawyer joked as he strode out to meet the injured Locke.

"Yes James, we were attacked by the others. They killed Miles and took Kate," Locke responded, his voice heavy with the combined agony of his injury and the mental trauma of what had just happened. Sawyer's smile quickly evaporated and he looked over to Hurley's face for any possible explanation. However, Hurley just sported a blank expression, although a look of torment was evident in his eyes.

"You serious?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"So let me get this straight. You're out there doin' God knows what, when all of a sudden you run into the others who happen to be out for a stroll in the same section of the jungle you are. Then they kill the last samurai, and kidnap Kate. Looks like you sure screwed this one up, Johnny Boy," Sawyer spat out accusingly at Locke.

"Now is not the time for this. I need to talk to Ben,"

"What in the hell do ya mean; now's not the time? When is the time, after you have a chat with the guy who had um killed?" Sawyer shouted out after Locke, but did not get a response.

* * *

Ben was awoken by the vicious noise produced from the rec room door as it flew open, smashing into the wall and rebounding back towards a furious Locke. The light streamed in behind Locke, causing Ben to raise his arm to shield from the intense brightness. Ben mentally evaluated the outraged man before him, and then asked in as innocent of a voice as he could muster, "Where's Miles? I was enjoying my time with him, and really wanted to finish our convers---"

"Shut up!" Locke screamed, before punching Ben, causing a fresh stream of blood to flow down his nose. "Why? Why did you order them to attack us? And- And how? How are you still," Locke inhaled heavily, his own questions overtaking his fortitude. He went to lean against the pool table, clenching his eyes closed as tight as he could, his inability to comprehend the situation overwhelming him. "How can you still communicate with them," he finished, much quieter now.

"John you need to tell me what happened."

"You already know."

"No, I don't know. And I need you to tell me exactly what happened,"

"They came. Three of your people, with guns, out of the jungle. They killed Miles and took Kate, just like you ordered," John said, seething with anger. He walked slowly over to where Ben was sitting, waiting for a response.

"I didn't order anything! John, this is a mistake, I –"

"Why do you waste my time?" John roared; his anger in full throttle. Sitting on a little table in the back of the room, a small stereo played Vivaldi's _Four Seasons_ at low volume, but the soothing music was drowned out by the heated conversation. Locke stalked over to the stereo, and hurled it at the wall by where Ben was, spraying the man with chunks of the plastic casing and electronic components. Ben winced as the debris scattered around him, and looked up to see Locke returning to where he was sitting. Locke cocked his fist back, in anticipation of a vicious blow to Ben's face, when he observed a look of fear in the man. It was not the look he had before Locke hit him when he tried to kill Ana-Lucia. It was a look of a man paralyzed by confusion and terror. Locke lowered his fist and asked, "So you don't know what happened.

Ben slowly shook his head, his eyes wide. "I don't know what their intentions were, but I assure you, they were not acting on my orders," he quickly explained.

John nodded, "I guess that's so," he sighed.

"Then why are you sitting here talking to me? Aren't you going to go and try to rescue Kate?" Ben inquired, and Locke could've sworn he picked up a slight hint of concern.

"Alright then," Locke stated as he headed towards the door, not once looking back at Benjamin Linus. If he had, perhaps he would've seen the grin that was beginning to spread across the bloodied man's face.

* * *

Ana tried as best she could to keep her jealous glare off of Jack as he conversed with Juliette a few yards away. Instead she looked over to where the people from the freighter were talking in hushed voices. She made a start to go talk to them, before sitting down in resignation, because she realized there was nothing she felt like talking to them about. Then again, there were very few people on this island she felt like talking to. Eko and Libby's deaths had been devastating to her, but she tried her best to maintain her dignity, grieving on the inside, or when no one else was around.

Libby's death had caused her to become increasingly bitter and confused. She ran over the scenario in her head, as she had countless times before. She had left the gun on the table, before exiting the hatch to search for Sawyer. She still couldn't remember the train of thought that led her to go and look for him, but when she returned Libby was dead, Michael was shot, and Ben was gone. She had always divvied up the blame for the death between herself and Sawyer, causing her much torment and creating an unbearably hostile relationship with the man she had once shared a moment of passionate embrace with. Then when Jack returned from his confinement by the others with news that Michael was responsible for the slayings, the wound on her soul was burst open again, sending her spiraling back into a state of depression.

Eko's death was much different. There was no blame to distribute, no re-imagining the event again and again. Although she didn't quite understand Locke's retelling of the tragedy; she knew only pain from the experience of losing the man she trusted above all others on the island, the one man she was able to talk to after Libby had died. Now she looked up, the troubling memories threatening to overwhelm her, when she saw Locke hobbling over a hill on the horizon. She stood up instantly, her glare fixed on the approaching form.

"Jack!" she exclaimed, causing everyone to quickly look from her to the direction of her gaze. Jack was the quickest to react, instinctively reaching for the pistol tucked in the back of his jeans.

When Locke was close enough to the group, he raised his hands up before Jack shouted freeze.

"What are you doing here?" Jack exclaimed, keeping a steady fix on Locke with his gun.

"Jack…" Juliette whispered, gently laying her hand upon Jack's shoulder. Jack sighed, and lowered the gun, but squinted his eyes at Locke with scrutiny. The whole incident caused Ana-Lucia to look away, but at the same time it propelled her to action.

"Well, go ahead and answer him!" she commanded, some of the old authority returning to her voice.

Locke paused when he got within a few feet of Jack, breathing heavily, as though he just exerted a great amount of physical effort. "They took Kate," he managed to say between labored breaths. When Jack said nothing, he elaborated, "The others. They killed Miles and they took Kate."

The news took the wind out of Jack, and caused his mind to stall. When he composed himself he bombarded Locke with questions.

"When did this happen?"

"Couldn't have been more than a few hours ago."

"Where were you?"

"In the jungle to the north of the barracks, there was Miles, Hurley, Kate, and I."

After a few more explanatory questions were asked, Jack looked up at the sky for a moment, still trying to comprehend what happened. "And why didn't you go after them? You could've caught up with them, rescued her!"

"Come on Jack, we both know that wouldn't have happened. All three of them had guns, and after they shot Miles, I was convinced they had no reservations in using them. Hugo still hasn't spoken more than two words at a time, and my ankle wouldn't have allowed me to give proper chase. So would you rather me run off into the jungle to die, or would you have liked me to come get you to help look for her?" Locke replied, and was content when Jack did not respond. Jack's silence allowed Locke to look over where Daniel and Charlotte were standing. He saw the distraught looks on their faces, but could think of little consolation to offer. He simply muttered," I'm sorry," before looking back towards Jack.

"I know I can count on your help to look for her Jack, but would you will you two ladies be joining the search party?" he addressed Ana and Juliette, before receiving their quick agreement. "And what of Sayid? Is he still around here?" Locke asked.

"He left with Desmond in the helicopter. Let's not lose any more time."

* * *

"Why are going back to camp instead of directly out in the Jungle?" Jack asked with irritation as they approached the threshold of the village.

"Sawyer and Danielle agreed to help, and this is the general direction Kate was taken," Locke explained as they headed towards his new place of inhabitance. Soon after they reached the small commune, Locke spotted Sawyer and Danielle, both carrying rifles. Sawyer was pacing, anxious at having to wait so long.

"What in the hell took you so long?" he asked, his voice full of frustration.

"I had to get Jack, like we agreed."

"We agreed on finding a search party, you got a surgeon, a baby doctor, and.. and her," he responded, pointing at Ana in disgust as he mentioned her name. The last encounter the two had almost ended in a physical fight, and he had still not discovered the source of her resentment for him. "Where's the firing squad? Last I checked the Iraqi, Bernard, and Jin were the most qualified candidates for the job."

"Sayid went on the helicopter and the other two were on the beach, which was an additional two hour walk. As your impatience is clearly indicating, it would be better if we left sooner rather than later," Locke replied, trying to calm Sawyer down. "I think its best we split up, so we have a better chance of finding Kate. Danielle already volunteered to go with me, so we should split into groups of two. We are one group, Jack how do you feel about going with Juliette?"

"Sounds good to me,"

"Great. James, you and Ana-Lucia will be the final group, now let's head out,"

"Now hold on just a minute!" Sawyer cried, throwing his hands into the air. "Hell will freeze over before I spend any time doing anything with her!"

"You're one to talk! I can't imagine how anyone could spend time..."

"Both of you be quite! Are you forgetting Kate was kidnapped after someone was murdered right in front of her? Stop bickering like little kids and let's get moving," Jack snapped at them. He looked over at Ana, who was eager to return his stare. She was intense, unwilling to back off. He didn't know what to do, so he turned around and headed off towards the jungle. Locke had given them basic directions to head in, and he was unwilling to waste any time. Locke and Danielle followed suit, leaving Sawyer and Ana alone.

"Let's go," he growled, refusing to make eye contact with her. Without turning around to see if she had acknowledged his order, he stalked off towards the jungle, without knowing where to look for Kate, or if she was even still alive.


	4. Smile Like You Mean It

A/N: Going to London for a week, so I should get the rest of the story written on the plane, and put up in about a week and a half. Enjoy!

He was going to find her first, that much was certain. He was arguably the best at tracking out of any of them, and Danielle knew the island better than anyone. Jack was the most determined, but his perseverance wouldn't help him navigate through the jungle. And Sawyer and Ana were doomed from the start. He could tell, anyone could tell, that there was a raw anger between them. Was it anger? Locke was certainly a man who knew anger, and he just couldn't quite label the emotions between them as anger. Perhaps passion was the right word. Yes, passion that somewhere along the lines took a terrible detour and never got back on track. That didn't really matter now. What did matter was that he was going to return to the village, triumphant, with an uninjured Kate.

They would respect him; revere him. They would accept him as their leader and revel in his decisions, eager to share in his search for understanding. But first he had to find Kate. The death of Miles wasn't of paramount importance; he had already convinced them that Miles was the enemy. Once he returned with Kate, he was sure they would be willing to forgive him, to receive orders on what to do next.

He took a brief break from his thoughts and looked over towards Danielle, who was walking intently towards an unknown location; her eyes scanning for any clue that would help them get on the right trail. They had barely spoken since they departed, talking in short phrases and only of the task at hand. As much as he enjoyed the silence, anxiety was starting to rear its ugly head, threatening to distract him from his objective.

"It's going to rain soon. Well, within a couple of hours at least," he said, pausing to look towards the sky. He had felt the coming of the rain for some time; it was going to be a horrible storm.

"Hmm?" she muttered, not turning around to face Locke.

"There's going to be a terrible storm."

"Oh. Then we better hurry. The rain could wash away their trail. And we wouldn't want anyone to be caught up in it if it got too violent."

"Well then, I guess we should keep moving."

They had been looking for over an hour now, and seemed no closer to finding where the others went. But Locke was having trouble keeping his thoughts straight, not giving his undivided attention to the task of tracking. It was just that the haunting words of Ben and the incident in the jungle wouldn't allow him to focus. He redoubled his efforts and strained his eyes, thoroughly examining the earthy floor of the jungle. He almost missed it. A double take caused his heart to skip a beat with excitement; yes this was something to go off of. He scurried over to the spot, and squatted, staring intently before letting out a small laugh. A set of footprints heading due east.

"What is it? Did you find something?" Danielle asked, her voice mixed with impatience and curiosity.

"Yes! I picked up on their trail, come see!" he beckoned her over without looking up. Yes, there was a logical procession now. Another set of tracks from a separate entity was found heading in the same direction. Danielle was by his side now, moving in the direction of their new discovery when he heard it. She apparently picked up on it too, turning around with a look of concern on her face. It was something barreling through the jungle, and it spelled trouble. She had already taken off, running away from the footprints without hesitation.

He was more reluctant to abandon his hard-found discovery so quickly, but when it emerged from the jungle he took flight as well. But it was fast, oh it was fast. The swirling grey cloud of smoke moved in a fluid motion, swiftly maneuvering through the various flora of the jungle, until it caught up with Locke.

He cursed as the pain in his ankle flared up again, the small form of Danielle becoming increasingly distant. A jolt of panic ran down his spine as he saw her turn around, sprinting back towards him. She was going to try to save him, although he wasn't quite sure if that was possible. The noise behind him was so close, but he dared not risk a look back at his pursuer. Suddenly he was encompassed in a shadow, and it took him a moment to realize what was happening. The monster had jumped over him and landed between him and the approaching Danielle.

"Run Danielle!" He shouted, before turning around and trying to flee in the other direction, but he felt something wrap around his leg. He wasn't sure why, but he resigned his effort to escape at that moment. Perhaps it was fate; the island's intention. He became aware that he was being lifted into the air, the cool breeze rushing around him as he lost all sense of orientation. With a slam he fell back down to earth, colliding sharply with forest floor. He closed his eyes, waiting for the monster to make its next move; to pull the knockout punch that the island desired.

There was no screaming in the background; Danielle must have fled. The only noise was that of the birds and insects, who were seemingly oblivious to his plight. His left arm was broken, but he used his right to push himself up, and he quickly scanned the area to see no one else around, not even the smoke. But it must've been close by. Before he knew it the monster had grabbed him again, and elevated him high into the air, thrusting him into the sunny treetops. The sudden change in altitude forced him to open his eyes as he hung elevated. And then he saw it. At first he didn't register what he saw, considering the situation. But then he realized that he was seeing it. Jacob's cabin. He closed his eyes again and smiled, perfectly content. He felt the movement. He knew soon his body would be a shattered mess on the jungle floor, but he had found the cabin. The descent downwards began, but he did his best to keep his eyes focused on the cabin. The trees, sky, and earth were blurred into one as he was hurled downwards, before darkness encompassed his sight. The last thought that entered his mind before he slipped out of consciousness was that he had found the cabin.

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"Do you want to rest for a little?" Jack asked, but Juliet could tell that the question was forced. He was tense, anxious, and impatient. But he was trying his best not to let it show, to not take it out on her.

"No, but thanks," she responded kindly. "We'll find her Jack, I promise. We'll do whatever it takes, but we'll find her. I'm sure Locke and Sawyer feel the same way."

He didn't respond, but turned away from her, trying to compose himself. For whatever reason he felt that he needed to show some resemblance of strength in front of her, to try and show that he was somewhat less concerned than she knew he really was.

"Have you ever been to Australia?" he asked, but his voice lacked any sincerity.

"Jack, you don't have to do this,"

"Do what?"

"Put on a show for me. I know. I know what it's like to have someone, someone you love," her voice softened as she mentioned the word love, "be in imminent danger, but you can't help them."

Once again, she received no response, so she continued. "When I was taken here, my sister had just beaten cancer, and seemed to be getting better. I was overjoyed, I couldn't believe it. Then Ben told me she got sick again. That she didn't have much time left. I wanted to leave Jack; I wanted to get as far away from this place as I could to find her so I could help her. But I couldn't. He wouldn't let me leave the island. And it hurt, not only because she was dying, but because I couldn't be there with her; the island wouldn't let me be there with her," she paused, trying to prevent the tears that were welling up in her eyes from overwhelming her.

She looked over at Jack, who had his eyes fixed on the ground, with a look of pain on his face. Forcing herself to smile, she took one of his hands and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "This is different Jack, we can save her. We will save her."

At these words he looked up to meet her gaze, and with a small smile he took both her hands and whispered, "Thanks," before kissing her. It was a short and tender kiss, but Juliet relished it.

"Let's keep searching," she murmured; her heart racing.

"Yeah."

They had been looking for anything that might help them for twenty minutes when they found him, a broken man alone in the jungle.

"Oh my God!" Juliet gasped as she ran over to the unmoving Locke. "Jack!"

He ran towards the sound of Juliet's voice, and froze. She was kneeling next to him, cradling his head in arms. She looked up at him, with her face a blend of confusion and pain. It was enough to bring him to action, and he ran over and instinctively checked for a pulse.

"He's alive," Jack scanned over Locke, his hands automatically checking for breaks and fractures as his years of medical expertise took over. "He definitely has a broken arm, a broken leg, and possible head trauma. Remember that stream we passed a few minutes ago?"

She stumbled for a minute, but found her voice "Y-Yeah,"

"Good, we need to take him there. Now grab his legs, be extremely careful with the left one."

As they set him down by the gently moving water Jack stated, "He has some pretty serious wounds, look at that gash on his head. Can you get me some water?"

As Juliet filled up a water bottle in the stream she looked back at Jack. He couldn't seem to keep focused on Locke, no matter how hard he tried. His eyes kept on stealing glances out into the forest, before forcibly diverting them down to the injured man in front of him.

"Jack, what about Kate?" Juliet gently asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He swallowed hard, and took the bottle of water from her. "I hope that Sawyer had better luck than we did."

A/N 2: Don't worry, I didn't forget about Sawyer and ana, they will be featured prominently in the next chapter!


	5. Sam's Town

She couldn't make out what they were saying. She never could. They always talked in muffled voices, and never around her. They would occasionally glance over at her when they were arguing; as if confirming her guesses that their conversation was always about her.

Kate sized up her surroundings yet again, always looking for a way to escape. There were five of them, which struck her as odd. Where were the rest of them; she knew there were more. There were the three men that attacked them in the jungle, a fourth younger man she hadn't seen before, and a woman who looked strangely familiar. Perhaps she had seen her back at the Hydra station when they kidnapped her the last time.

She was in a hastily constructed ten that matched the impromptu setting of the rest of the camp. It must've been set up recently. She was in handcuffs, a situation she was regrettably used to. But someone was always watching her. Usually that woman, who consequently was the only unarmed one among them. They had said little to her in the few hours in which she was a captive, but they suddenly stopped talking and the bald man got up and started walking straight towards her. 

"Sit," he demanded before he reached the tent. She did so without speaking, making no effort to mask her discontent. "You need to listen carefully. You may be released soon, but don't let that give you any notion that you are safe. Trust me, you are not. If we let you go, you will need to…" he paused, searching for the right words. "Complete a few tasks."

"Like what?"

"You saw what happened to Miles. I need you to make it happen to his friends from the boat."

"Absolutely not!" 

"Think very carefully. If you don't consent right now, I will give you an hour to think. If you don't agree then; we will kill you." 

She made as if to speak, but he cut her off. "And don't think for a second that if you agree, but don't do as you're told, that there won't be any consequences. If they aren't dead by week's end, we will come finish the job, but they won't be the only casualties. And I'm not just talking about you." He stared at her, awaiting her response. "Well?"

She was silent at first, running over all the possible scenarios in her head. "Ask me again in an hour," she said, not looking directly at the man in front of her.

It was strange, not talking. They had been alone in their search this whole time and had not said a single thing. Well, it was more of Sawyer's search. He blazed forward headstrong, oblivious to her; not making any indication that he needed to consult her on where to go. And she just followed, although she wasn't sure why. It was the first time since the murder of Libby that she had been in this close of a proximity to him without breaking out in a fight. There was just the silence, which was almost as bad.

----------

But it gave her time to think; to reflect how they ended up as they did. And she couldn't stand it. She needed to apologize, but it made her feel weak and vulnerable. 

"Sawyer," Ana-Lucia ended the silence. But there was no response. He didn't give any sign that he had even heard her, although she had spoken loudly.

"Hey I'm talking to you!" She called out again.

"Yeah well I ain't listening," he snapped back, although he turned around to look at her for the first time since they left.

She continued with the apology anyways. "Look, I'm sorry. Now let me help you find Kate."

"Sorry? You're sorry?" He let out a loud, cruel laugh. "Honey, sorry don't fix what you've done."

"Yeah, then what will," It came out harsher than she intended, and she had unconsciously folded her arms across her chest.

"Well for starters, how bout you sound a bit more apologetic. But more importantly, how bout you tell me why you've been such a goddamned bitch." This caused her to unintentionally break eye contact, and she diverted her eyes to the ground. He paused, a bit surprised by her reaction. He softened his voice a bit and continued, "The first time you lashed out, I let it go. Your friend, Blondie, had just got murdered by a gun you stole, so I say to myself, why she's just bitter. Then it happened again. And again. And you never gave me any hint of why the hell you've been actin' like that. And that Ana-Lulu, is why your sorry ain't good enough."

"Then I guess we better keep walking," she said in a barely audible voice, putting her hands in her back pockets.

"Are you kiddin' me!" Sawyer threw up his arms in frustration. "You finally apologize, and I know that ain't easy for someone like you, and then you don't even give me an explanation?"

"How'd you know it's hard for someone like me to apologize?"

"Cuz I gotta go through hell and high water before I apologize to someone. And like it or not, us two got a lot in common. Now you gonna continue to waste my time, cuz I got me a freckle faced girl out there to find."

She sighed but said nothing. He threw an arm at her and turned around without another word. 

"I was looking for you," she blurted out. It was enough to elicit a response.

"What in the hell you talkin' about?"

"The night Libby was killed, I was sitting down there with that gun of yours, when I felt like finding you. Never really knew why. Still don't know why. But I just had to. So I set that damn gun down, and I left. The rest is history. I guess, because I went to find you, I blamed you for her death. Now I know I'm in 

the wrong, so take the damn apology already," She spoke quickly, but clear and never made eye contact. She never did like to apologize. Now she looked up at him, awaiting the verdict.

"You're damn straight you were wrong! But boy howdy, I underestimated your ability to hold a grudge. I was going for the world record myself, but I had the chance to settle it, and it was just too sweet to pass up."

"I'm intrigued."

"Well, you'll have to get the details from Kate. Now get that nice lil ass of yours up here, we got a hostage to find!"

She strode to his side, relieved. "What if Jack already found her?" she teased.

"You got to be kiddin me! Jack couldn't find his way through this jungle if he had a GPS navigation system!" 

It didn't take them much longer to find the camp. They did so completely by accident; neither of them had been able to pick up on any trail. As soon as they stumbled upon the small cluster of tents, two guns were pointed at them.

"Hey, Sam, we got guests!" a man with a rifle exclaimed. 

"So I take it were first to the party. In that case, I'll take a table for two," Sawyer joked as he desperately searched around for Kate.

"Good one James Bond, now put your hands up!" Two men emerged from one of the tents. The second had one hand on Kate's shoulder, with his other hand pressing a pistol against her back. 

"How's life freckles?" Sawyer asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but the concern in his voice was evident. A look at her face erased any further joking that he might engage in. She looked ready to cry.

"Actually we were just about to discuss that. It's a good thing you showed up though. I guess you can say it raises the stakes," the man with the pistol to Kate's back said with a laugh.

"And who are you, another one of Ben's bitches?" Sawyer shot at him, not interested in playing his games.

"Why I'm Sam," he nodded to the other man who emerged from the tent. "That's Chris. The two in front of you are Alfonso and Dustin. Cindy's around here somewhere."

"Cindy?" Ana-Lucia asked, her voice ominous. 

Sam smiled back. "I believe you two have met. But let's get down to business. Now me and Kate were discussing a proposition. Well it's more of an ultimatum, but let's not get bogged down in technical jargon. I don't want to bore you with the details, but whatever she chooses, someone ends up dead."

Silence. He continued, a bit taken back by the unresponsiveness of Sawyer. "Originally it was gonna be Kate kills your friends from the boat, or we killed her. And if she broke her agreement, we'd take a few of you out. I'm going to amend that now. Either the people from the boat die, or you two do," he indicated to Ana and Sawyer. "And you get one day, not one week. Plus sharper penalty for betrayal. Like ten dead sharp. So let's hear what you're gonna do Katie."

Silence. A gentle breeze blew through the camp, causing the tent flaps to sway along with the wind. Ana strained her eyes; she thought she saw the silhouette of someone in one of the tents. The silhouette of a certain brunette Australian flight attendant. Suddenly she forgot the calamity of the current situation, and there was only anger. 

"Cindy! Get your ass out here!" she screamed, causing everyone to stare at her. There was no movement. 

"Why don't you come on out Cindy? You might not get too many more chances to talk to Ana-Lucia," Sam called out. A moment passed with nothing happening. Then a hand pushed a flap aside and Cindy tentatively walked out, wearing a nice light green blouse and a dark blue pair of jeans.

Ana laughed beside herself. "Are you kidding me? After the hell we endured, you join them? You're lucky your new friends have guns, or you'd be dead by now. Hell if it weren't for me, you'd be dead long ago. Why the hell did you join them?"

No response. "Answer the fucking question! You owe it to me to answer the fucking question!" Ana was so intense that the two men with rifles looked to the ground. Kate was unable to watch as well, but Sawyer and Sam seemed enthralled by the exchange. 

Cindy choked a bit before answering. "They're… They're good people. They helped me," she cringed as she said it, considering the position they were in.

"They're good people? You're kidding me, right? When did murdering an unarmed guy in the jungle become a virtue? Or forcing her to murder people, so they don't shoot us down in cold blood, is that what good people do? You've betrayed those people who died in the crash. You've betrayed Eko and Libby. You've betrayed those kids."

"The kids are fine Ana!" Cindy pleaded, unable to take Ana's verbal lashing.

"Yeah, damning them to never see their mom again isn't my definition of fine. You betrayed Bernard, and all the survivors from the front of the plane. And you betrayed me Cindy. Does none of this matter to you?" 

"That's quite the speech," Sam interrupted as Cindy began to cry. "Kate, still watin' on that decision," when he spoke, something was different in his voice. He seemed less confident.

"No she's right," Cindy said, trying to collect herself.

"Shut up," Sam snapped.

"No she's right, Richard was right. We shouldn't have left the temple. This, this isn't what Ben would want," Cindy continued walking between Sam and Ana.

"What do you know about Ben! You've been with us how long again?" He shouted, and for the first time took the pistol away from Kate's back. 

"I know he wants people to follow his orders. Not to go on arbitrary killing sprees," she urged him. Alfonso and Dustin lowered their rifles. 

"She's right, Ben would want us to follow orders," Dustin said.

Sam clawed his hair in exasperation. "Fine. No one dies." A flood of relief washed through Kate, causing her to tear up. "But I'm seeing Ben," he glared at Cindy, then Sawyer, "And that is not negotiable."

A/N: The conclusion is coming. It could be posted anywhere from tomorrow to next weekend.


	6. Heaven Sends and Heaven Takes

A/N: Here it is, the conclusion. Thanks to all those we subscribed to the story or left a review.

The rain had begun to fall in earnest, soaking the entire jungle and producing a steady pitter-patter as the water hit the leaves of the trees. Still, things were going better than they could have, considering she had been facing imminent death not more than fifteen minutes ago. Ana-Lucia looked through the sheets of rain over at Sawyer as he began to hum a tune. They had departed the camp in a scattered formation. One of the others, Dustin, was leading the group having left about 5 minutes before anyone else. Then she and Sawyer were in the center, and Kate, Sam, and his two flunkies were about another twenty minutes back. Cindy had stayed at the camp, thank God. Ana didn't think she could bare to look at her again Although Cindy ultimately saved her life, or the lives of Charlotte and Daniel, Ana still felt betrayed, a feeling that would probably linger for quite some time.

Well she needed a new grudge to replace the one she had held against Sawyer. He had been surprisingly talkative, despite that they were still very much in danger. She kept her cool, but inside was overjoyed at the possibility of once again having someone to care about on the island.

"Rain drops keep fallin' on my head, but that doesn't mean my eyes'll be turnin' red," Sawyer had broken out into song, and Ana could've sword he even had a spring in his step.

"Please no singing," she pleaded, although her voice lacked resolve.

"Cryin's not for me, cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'," he continued singing even louder for annoyance's sake, "because I'm free, and nothin's worrying me!"

"Jesus much more of this and I wish they would've shot me!" she complained

"Awe come-on now sweet heart, my singin' ain't that bad. And those men still have plenty of chances to shoot you. 'Specially that bald guy, what with you ruing his big plans and all. Hell I reckon Jack will even whip you up a medal o' honor when we get back, seeing as you're a big hero now."

She smiled, "Yeah, wonder where Jack is right now."

"Dammit!" Jack cursed, his impromptu sling not being large enough to fit Locke's arm. The rain wasn't making things any easier, now that it was coming down much heavier. He had more or less stopped the bleeding, but Locke had yet to regain consciousness, which was aggravating Jack because he still had no clue what happened to Locke, and Danielle was nowhere to be seen. The violent nature of his injures was particularly worrisome to Jack; because he and Juliet might still be in imminent danger.

He stood up and a walked a few steps to where Juliet was. "One of us is going to need to get some help. We can't leave him here; this weather is getting real bad."

She nodded, and then cringed slightly as thunder rolled across the island, originating from some distant source. She was about to reply when her eyes settled on Locke; he seemed to be moving! "Jack!" she shouted over the rain, and ran over to where Lock was lying. The injured man coughed violently, and his eyes desperately searched for an indication of what was happening.

Jack kneeled down by Locke and in a clinical tone informed him of his predicament. "Careful, don't sit up. You may have a fractured rib. You have a broken arm and a broken leg, so we had to put you down by this stream," Jack broke off for a moment, but Locke gave no notion that he was trying to speak. "What happened? What did this to you?" Again, he received no response. Jack was about to ask again when Juliet interrupted him.

"Jack someone's out there!" she warned, trying to keep her voice low, despite the torrents of rain. Jack reached for his pistol, and looked up at the bank on the other side of the stream. It was a steep upwards slope, which turned into a dense portion of the jungle. Indeed noise was emanating from the jungle above, sounding much like a person making their way through trees and undergrowth.

"Sawyer?" Jack shouted. No response, but the noise had stopped. "Ana?" Nothing. "Danielle?" He called out the last name a bit quieter, and clicked off the safety of the gun. He waited another moment with only the steady sound of the rain creating any noise. He suddenly thought of the kidnapped Kate, then the injured Locke, and fired at where he best guessed the person to be.

He figured the shot had missed, because soon return fire erupted from the jungle, a rifle shot that landed a few yards to his right. The sound of the shot gave him a better indication as to where the unknown entity was, and he squeezed the trigger again.

This time the shot rang true, and a body tumbled out of the tree line, down the muddy slope, and into the shallow stream. But the man wasn't dead. The shot had hit him in the neck, which he was clutching with a death grip, trying to apply pressure to the wound. Still blood was streaming out through his fingers at alarming amounts, and his feet thrashed around violently, kicking up the shallow water of the stream.

Jack stood there a moment, holding the smoking gun. He glanced over at Juliet, but she wasn't looking at the man in the stream, still struggling in his death throes. She was looking out into the jungle. As Jack watched the man suffer, he began to rationalize what he just did. Perhaps the man in front of him was the one who murdered Miles, or the one who injured Locke. Hell, he may have just gotten back from killing Sawyer and Ana! That was a chilling idea, and Jack quickly pushed it out of his head.

"Jack there's more people there!" Juliet shouted, and ran back from the stream a little ways. Jack didn't need the warning though, he had heard something crashing through the jungle before she had even shouted. His thoughts of vengeance once again propelling him to action, he fired another shot into the jungle. There was a scream, oh God, the voice was familiar.

"Help, someone help!" Jack's eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat. It was Ana's voice. He threw the gun to the ground, and dashed into the stream. The rain was making the stream increasingly deep, and he struggled to run through it, but eventually reached the other bank. He scrambled up the incline, 

finding it hard to get a grip on the wet and muddy surface. Finally, he ran into the threshold of the jungle, and his heart sank.

There was Ana, kneeling on the jungle floor, holding Sawyers head. There was a rip in his shirt where the bullet hit, and an increasing amount of blood. Ana looked up at Jack, her mouth aghast. But her eyes showed only anger, gazing into Jack. He quickly looked back at Sawyer, who was desperately trying to remain conscious. Jack knew he didn't have long, but he wasn't about to tell Ana that. She looked genuinely horrified, which was confusing to Jack; hadn't they been at each other's throats when they left?

Juliet emerged into the jungle, and looked at Jack, "What should we do?"

"Grab one of his arms, we need to get him to the other bank," Jack commanded, his voice soft from the shock. He grabbed one of Sawyer's arms to hoist him up, and Juliet was about to do the same when Ana barked, "I got it."

They carefully descended the slippery slope, with Sawyer's legs dragging useless behind. They passed the corpse of Dustin, who was lying lifeless in the stream, the water of running over his body and mingling with his blood. Jack hadn't really noticed when he died but he had to keep Sawyer alive as long as possible.

They reached the other bank and set him down next to Locke. "What the hell were you thinking," Ana muttered as Jack rummaged through his backpack for supplies, most of which he had used on Locke.

"It was an accident Ana, something you should know about," Jack replied as he removed some bandages. He didn't mean to add the last part, and he certainly didn't mean to sound so harsh. She looked at him, visibly hurt, and then looked back to Sawyer. He was breathing heavily, and trying to lift his hands to the wound, but resigned after a painful grunt.

"Juliet, get some pressure on it! Ana, hold this for me," Jack ordered, handing her a little bottle of some anti-bacterial left over from the hatch.

"How-how is it," Sawyer coughed, his voice strained. It was the first thing he said since being shot.

Ana gave as reassuring a smile as she could muster, trying to fight the tears welling up in her eyes. "It's not so bad," she guaranteed him; "it's not so bad."

"He's losing a lot of blood," Juliet cautioned, causing Ana to shoot her a dangerous look. "How are you going to get the bullet out?"

Jack honestly didn't know. He didn't bring anything along that might help in his backpack, and it was in too deep to try and grab it out with his fingers. He felt Sawyer's forehead, which provided only more bad news. Despite the constant supply of cool rain, the man had a dangerously high fever. Yeah, he didn't have much longer. Ana recognized a look of hopelessness on Jack's face and became desperate. "Don't just sit there, fix him! You shot him, now fix him!" She screamed, reaching over to grab the 

bandages. She tried to wrap them around the injury, but the bandages became useless in the rain. She sat back down, and finally began to cry.

Juliet and Jack looked at her for a moment, shocked, before averting their eyes. Sawyer began breathing heavily again, and then stopped. Ana brushed his hair out of his face, and saw his eyes staring into nothingness, unmoving. It wasn't fair. Again, something was taken away from her so cruelly; something that showed so much promise, a hope that she could get over her previous losses. But then, this happened and again she was left with nothing, although she was by Jack, Juliet, and the injured Locke she felt alone and isolated.

Juliet was about to comfort her when she once again heard noises crashing through the jungle. Out emerged three men and Kate, all with guns at the ready. Terror seized her when she saw Sam, who she knew had a history of violence. She moved over to where the gun lay on the ground, trying not to attract attention as the new comers sized up the situation.

"What the fuck happened here?" Sam shouted, indicating to the dead body in the stream. He shook his head then indicated to Sawyer. "So you guys lead us into an ambush squad, but it didn't turn out the way you wanted?" He was asking Ana, but by the way she looked he knew he wasn't getting an answer. She turned around and looked at the group, and saw Kate, obviously horrified, in the back with a gun pointed at her head.

"Double cross us huh? Bet you were planning on killin' the rest of us as well before this happened. Well I don't take kindly to being betrayed. You know that dontcha Jules?" Sam continued, his voice bitter, and the gun still pointed at Kate.

"It was an accident; we didn't want any of this to happen, honest!" Juliet shouted back up, the distance and rain making it hard to hear.

"Bullshit! Kill 'um!" he screamed as his two henchmen let out a salvo of fire. They had bolt action rifles so they could only take one shot at a time. But it was enough. The first shot was at Ana, who was still crouching by the deceased Sawyer. She fell over next to him, landing on her side. The other man shot at Jack, and the bullet found its mark with regrettably good aim. He fell backwards, and landed with a thud. Juliet meanwhile ran into the river, pistol in hand. She fired two shots at the man who killed Jack, causing him to fall down the slope and land in the stream. He at first tried desperately to push himself up, as he landed face down in the water, but soon resigned, drowning in the water and pain of his injuries. She turned the pistol towards the other man with the rifle and unloaded the rest of the clip on him, killing him. Now defenseless, she turned and tried to run, but the current of the stream was too strong. She quickly dropped down as the predicted pistol shot rang out. Noticing the other bodies were floating downstream at a rapid pace, she tried to emulate them, staying low in the water and getting swept downstream. A few more pistol shots were fired towards her, but before long she was out of range.

Sam looked out at the carnage before him, and then back down at Kate. It all happened very quickly, but somehow during that time she had sat down. She was clutching her knees to her chest and sobbing, 

unable to believe or comprehend what had happened. He growled, and grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet. "Move!" he shouted, pushing her down the slope, into the stream. She collapsed, unwilling and unable to support herself in the fast moving water. He once again grabbed her arm and after some effort dragged her to the other shore.

"Get down!" He yelled, and she obliged, but she looked over where Sawyer and Ana lay, their eyes locked in eternal rest. "They shouldn't have set up this ambush, and none of this would've happened!" He said, but she didn't respond. He pointed the gun at her and was about to fire when Ana suddenly pushed herself up and ran at him. He reacted fast though, turning around to face her just as she tackled him. Kate was brought back to the present when two loud gun shots erupted, and the two fell down next to her. Kate ran at the pistol, which had fallen out of Sam's hands in the incident and unloaded the remainder of the clip in his head.

She dropped the gun, still sobbing. She clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to look at what had happened, but she eventually forced herself to. She walked slowly, as if in a trance, towards the corpse of Sawyer. She stepped over Ana's body, although she had saved her life twice there would be time to grieve for her later. Kate's eyes drifted from Sawyer's body to Jack's. There they were in front of her, the two men she loved. Both dead.

"K-Kate," she jumped with fright from hearing the voice. But her heart also sank instantly as she recognized it as Locke's, not Jack's or Sawyer's. "You need to get help," he wheezed, still weak from his injuries. She nodded, not listening to what he said. She became vaguely aware that Juliet was still out there. She would probably get some help. But then she thought about how ludicrous that was. Help? It was too late for help.

She once again looked over at Sawyer and Jack, and noticed that the rain was starting to slow down. Soon the sun broke through the clouds, and brought warmth to the little valley. Warmth that Kate could not feel.


End file.
